Image Optimization

Image Optimization

What’s the difference between the gif, jpg and png file formats?

GIF format

A compressed file format for indexed images. It uses run-length encoding, which compresses a series of pixels of the same value (in the horizontal direction) as a single entry (e.g. 30 pixels of red), which saves space over specifying each pixel. This means that large blocks of a single color compress very well. It also means that dithering (which reduces the runs of the same pixels) usually makes the image compress poorly.

Best for – Graphic images with large areas of a single color, images with transparency, images with sharp edges, images with few colors.

Transparency – Defines one color to be transparent

Animations – Format supports multi-frame animations

Interlacing – A way to encode the image so that when a small amount of the image has been downloaded, it can be displayed in rough form. The image becomes progressively more clear until the whole image is downloaded.

JPEG format

A “lossy” compressed file format for RGB images. Among other things, it eliminates hard edges to achieve compression. The loss of quality in the image is controlled by the quality setting when you save a JPEG image. The lower the number, the worse the quality.

Progressive – A format similar to interlacing for GIFs that displays the image with increasing quality as it downloads. The progressive format is not supported by some older browsers.

PNG format

A relatively new format that combines the best of GIF and JPEG. It supports both Indexed images and RGB images. It also supports a 256 color alpha channel for transparency. Not fully supported by older browsers.

About the PNG‑8 format

The PNG‑8 format uses 8‑bit color. Like the GIF format, PNG‑8 efficiently compresses areas of solid color while preserving sharp detail like those in line art, logos, or type.

The PNG‑8 format uses more advanced compression schemes than GIF does, and a PNG‑8 file can be 10% to 30% smaller than a GIF file of the same image, depending on the image’s color patterns. Although PNG‑8 compression is lossless, optimizing an original 24‑bit image as an 8‑bit PNG file can subtract colors from the image.

Note: With certain images, especially those with simple patterns and few colors, GIF compression can create a smaller file than PNG‑8 compression. View optimized images in GIF and PNG‑8 format to compare file size.

As with the GIF format, you can choose the number of colors in an image and control how colors dither in a browser. The PNG‑8 format supports background transparency and background matting, by which you blend the edges of the image with a web page background color.

PNG‑8 with 256 colors and no dither (left), and PNG‑8 with 16 colors and dithering (right)

About the PNG‑24 format. The PNG‑24 format supports 24‑bit color. Like the JPEG format, PNG‑24 preserves the subtle variations in brightness and hue found in photographs. Like the GIF and PNG‑8 formats, PNG‑24 preserves sharp details like those in line art, logos, or type.

The PNG‑24 format uses the same lossless compression method as the PNG‑8 format. For that reason, PNG‑24 files are usually larger than JPEG files of the same image. You may want to avoid PNG‑24 format when you are distributing your image to a wide audience.

In addition to supporting background transparency and background matting, the PNG‑24 format supports multilevel transparency. You can have up to 256 degrees of transparency from opaque to completely transparent, so you can blend the edges of an image smoothly with any background color. However, not all browsers support multilevel transparency.

Image optimization using Photoshop

The primary goal in creating graphics for the web is to maintain high image quality, while creating files that are as small as possible. This is always a compromise, and requires a subjective judgement by the designer. The best approach is to experiment with different image settings to discover a good compromise appropriate for the image and web page.

GIFs

To make a GIF, do the following to an RGB image in Photoshop:

Show and hide any layers to get the image you need

Determine the color of the web page background that the image will be displayed against

Select FILE>SAVE FOR WEB…

Notice that the image is displayed in its compressed format. And at the bottom left of the screen, the size of the compressed image is shown. Keep track of both of these as you adjust the various settings. Keep in mind that, in general, the total size of a web page including all of its images should be less than 100K.

Select GIF 32 No Dither from the Settings pull down. This will provide a good starting point for your settings.

Select PERCEPTUAL, SELECTIVE, ADAPTIVE, OR WEB for the palette selection method. SELECTIVE is the default and will usually provide good results. Following are Photoshop’s definition of these methods, quoted from Adobe Photoshop Help:Perceptual – Creates a custom color table by giving priority to colors for which the human eye has greater sensitivity.Selective – Creates a color table similar to the Perceptual color table, but favoring broad areas of color and the preservation of Web colors. This color table usually produces images with the greatest color integrity. Selective is the default option.Adaptive – Creates a custom color table by sampling colors from the spectrum appearing most commonly in the image. For example, an image with only the colors green and blue produces a color table made primarily of greens and blues. Most images concentrate colors in particular areas of the spectrum.Web – Uses the standard 216-color color table common to the Windows and Mac OS 8-bit (256-color) palettes. This option ensures that no browser dither is applied to colors when the image is displayed using 8-bit color. (This palette is also called the Web-safe palette.) Using the Web palette can create larger files, and is recommended only when avoiding browser dither is a high priority.

Select NO DITHER. This will produce the smallest files, while the other Dither options may improve the image quality. If Dither is needed, you may want to consider JPEG for the image format.

Select the smallest number of colors that produces an acceptable looking image. You can reduce the color information if necessary by selecting the “color” pull down menu and with the right arrow reducing the color to 16, 8, 4 or perhaps even 2.

If you want the image to display while downloading,select the INTERLACED checkbox.

Transparency in GIFs allows you to see through parts of the image to the background of the web page. Photoshop creates transparency in GIFs by using the mask transparency in the Photoshop file.

Create the transparency in your photoshop file, and set your layers so that you can see the checkerboard transparency in the file before you select SAVE FOR WEB

If you have created a mask for transparency, and want the background of the web page to show through the mask area, checkthe TRANSPARENCY box in the SAVE FOR WEB palette on the right side of the screen.

Select a MATTE color. This color selection affects the color of the anti-aliasing fringe used at the boundary between the image and the transparent areas. E.g. if your image will be displayed on a white web page, select white as the MATTE color to make a clean, anti-aliased edge for the image.

JPEGs

To make a JPEG, do the following to an RGB image in Photoshop:

Show and hide any layers to get the image you need

Select FILE>SAVE FOR WEB…

Notice that the image is displayed in its compressed format. And at the bottom left of the screen, the size of the compressed image is shown. Keep track of both of these as you adjust the various settings. Keep in mind that the total size of a web page including all of its images should be less than 100K.

Select JPEG Medium from the Settings pull down. This will provide a good starting point for your settings.

Check the OPTIMIZED checkbox. This makes the file size smaller, and is compatible with almost all browsers.

Experiment with the QUALITY setting while checking the Optimized image for JPEG artifacts and looking at the resulting file size. Usually a setting between 40 – 60 works well. Choose the lowest quality setting acceptable so the file is the smallest.

If you want the image to display while downloading, select the PROGRESSIVE checkbox.

Transparency is not available in JPEG images. But the MATTE feature described for GIFs can be used in JPEGS. If the photoshop image has transparency, the matte color you choose in SAVE FOR WEB will change the transparent areas of the image to that color. This is useful if you need to put an image against a particular color on a web page.